Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington

The Diocese of Lexington (Latin: Dioecesis Lexingtonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, in southeastern Kentucky in the United States. It was erected on January 14, 1988. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Louisville. The Diocese of Lexington provides education for approximately 4,300 students in its 15 elementary and two high schools located throughout the diocese, and maintains Newman Centers at eight of Kentucky's colleges and universities.

Diocese of Lexington

Dioecesis Lexingtonensis
Cathedral of Christ the King
Coat of arms
Location
CountryUnited States
TerritorySoutheastern Kentucky
Ecclesiastical provinceLouisville
Statistics
Area16,423 sq mi (42,540 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2017)
1,659,800
43,168 (2.6%)
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedJanuary 14, 1988
CathedralCathedral of Christ the King
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopJohn Stowe
Metropolitan ArchbishopShelton Fabre
Bishops emeritusJames Kendrick Williams
Map
Website
cdlex.org

History

1785 to 1988

The first Catholic immigrants to the Kentucky area came from Maryland in 1785. By 1796, approximately 300 Catholic families were living in the new state of Kentucky. Among the early missionaries was Reverend Stephen Badin. He set out on foot for Kentucky on September 3, 1793, sent by Bishop John Carroll of the Diocese of Baltimore. For the next 14 years, Badin traveled to widely scattered Catholic settlements in Kentucky and the Northwest Territory. For three years, Badin was the only priest in the state.

In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Bardstown, covering Kentucky and most of the Northwest Territory. In 1841, Pope Leo suppressed the Diocese of Bardstown, which by this time encompassed only Kentucky. In its place, he created the Diocese of Louisville, with jurisdiction over Kentucky. [1] Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Covington on July 29, 1853, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisville. The Lexington area would remain part of these two dioceses for the next 135 years.

1988 to present

Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Lexington on January 14, 1988, with 43 counties from the Diocese of Covington and seven counties from the Archdiocese of Louisville. He named Auxiliary Bishop James Williams of the Diocese of Covington as the first bishop of Lexington. Christ the King Church was elevated to the status of cathedral.

In early 2002, Williams went on leave as bishop of Lexington after sexual abuse allegations arose from his service with the Archdiocese of Louisville. He resigned as bishop of Lexington in July 2002.[2][3] To replace Williams, John Paul II named Reverend Ronald Gainer of the Diocese of Allentown. In 2014, Pope Francis named Gainer as bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

The current bishop of the Diocese of Lexington is John Stowe, named by Francis in 2015.

Sexual abuse incidents

On August 14, 2020, the Diocese of Lexington released a list of 20 priests who served within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Lexington and were found to have committed acts of sex abuse.[4][5][6][7] In his letter, which was released with the list, Bishop Stowe wrote that 10 of the allegations were "substantiated", four allegations were deemed "credible", and the remaining six allegations were credible but involved minors outside the diocese.[7][4] Just two of these allegations were reported after the erection of the diocese in 1988.[7]

Bishops

Bishops of Lexington
  1. James Kendrick Williams (1988-2002)
  2. Ronald William Gainer (2002-2014), appointed Bishop of Harrisburg
  3. John Eric Stowe, OFM Conv. (2015–present)[8]

Coat Arms
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington
Notes
Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected
Adopted
1988
Escutcheon
The arms of the Diocese of Lexington are composed of three sections that are in the red, white (silver), and blue. The left side of these arms is red, on which is displayed a silver sword. The right side of these arms is silver (white), on which is seen a blue fleur-de-lis. The bottom of these arms is a blue field, on which is a Gold diadem placed on a silver cross.
Symbolism
Three sections are in red, white (silver), and blue, which are in the traditional colors of the United States. The left side of these arms is red on which is displayed a silver sword of St. Paul, the patron of the Diocese of Covington. The right side of these arms is silver (white) on which is seen a blue fleur-de-lis of the Archdiocese of Louisville. These two fields signify that the Diocese of Lexington is carved from territory taken from each of these sees. The bottom of these arms, which comes to a point to represent the mountains of eastern Kentucky, is blue to signify Kentucky, "The Bluegrass State". On this field is a Gold diadem placed on a silver cross to honor Christ, the King, titular of the Cathedral-Church in Lexington.

High schools

See also

References
  1. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 846
  2. Collins, Dan (June 12, 2002). "Kentucky Bishop Resigns". CBS News. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  3. Walsh, Edward (June 12, 2002). "2 More Bishops Resign in Sex Scandal". Washington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  4. https://www.cdlex.org/documents/2020/8/BishopLetter081420.pdf?_ga=2.189564523.1102021069.1599483972-1136676817.1599483972
  5. "Catholic Diocese of Lexington releases names of priests accused of sexual abuse".
  6. "Lexington diocese releases list of priests accused of abuse | Lexington Herald Leader". Archived from the original on 2020-08-16.
  7. "Catholic diocese in Kentucky lists 20 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse".
  8. "Pope names Conventual Franciscan as new Bishop of Lexington". Catholic Diocese of Lexington (Lexington, KY). Retrieved March 12, 2015.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.